It’s the first day of school in New York.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t been to the park in weeks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Those reliable begonias have started to droop and fade.\u00a0 Michaelmas daisies have emerged to replace them.\u00a0 A single dinner plate hibiscus, incongruously large, has popped up in the middle ground behind the benches.\u00a0 “Run for Your Life,” sang the platoon guitarist at the Imagine Mosaic.\u00a0 Along the path, the wood anemone has lost all its blossoms.\u00a0 The combo by the lake plays \u201cString of Pearls.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Uh oh.\u00a0 There are tents and security personnel in chartreuse vests, a sure sign of fund-raising for the Central Park Conservancy.\u00a0 More equipment is piled up at the fountain, and the arcade has been cordoned off.\u00a0 \u201cWhat a mess,\u201d I said to the big bubble man.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He wiped his brow.\u00a0 \u201cYou gotta work for every dollar.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The CPC\u2019s takeover ended at the steps from terrace to fountain.\u00a0 Center stage was unoccupied.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s see what I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, no, no,\u201d said the big bubble man, whose name I once knew but forgot.\u00a0 \u201cThe violin.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I looked where he pointed.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t a violin, it was the erhu, and the erhu player, who only understood English when it suited him.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It was cooler in the shade of the maple, but not much.\u00a0 People walked by infrequently and no one wanted to hula in such heat.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A couple danced some ballroom steps to \u201cFit as a Fiddle,\u201d showing off what a few grand at Fred Astaire Studios can buy, and earning me a dollar.\u00a0 Thirty minutes later, a well-dressed mother and daughter walked by, smiling at the lyrics to \u201cI Wonder Where My Little Hula Girl Has Gone.\u201d\u00a0 They stopped about 20 yards away until the finale, \u201cshe\u2019s no longer on the beach at Waikiki.\u201d\u00a0 Then mom returned with a dollar.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A 30-something man tossed in 2 quarters.\u00a0 By this time, I was wondering if I\u2019d get to $2.70, my breakeven, equivalent to 2 senior subway fares.\u00a0 Every time a woman reached into her purse, or a man patted for his wallet, I thought it was for me, only to have a map, a phone, or a tissue emerge.\u00a0 With 10 minutes left in my set, a 9- or 10-year-old boy, walked by with a peppy, young care-giver.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you got time for a hula today?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cSure we do, don\u2019t we?\u201d the care-giver said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The boy appeared to be autistic.\u00a0 As I explained how to hula, she kept reminding him to look up at me.\u00a0 While I played \u201cThe Hukilau Song,\u201d he sometimes dropped his arms and lowered his head. \u00a0\u201cWake up,\u201d she\u2019d say, and he\u2019d start to dance again.\u00a0 After the dance, he wanted to know about my solar-powered hula girls.\u00a0 When I\u2019d answered all his questions, his care-giver gave me a dollar and led the boy away.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAloha,\u201d I called after him.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cHello, good-bye, love, peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThose are all good things,\u201d said the care-giver.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAloha,\u201d said the boy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"